Three-generation, family-owned Napa Valley estate winery invests in the future
NAPA VALLEY, Calif., August 12, 2019 — Silverado Vineyards announces key personnel additions and the creation of a new marketing department for the landmark Stags Leap District winery. Nora Feeley has been named director of marketing and communications and Lauren Martins has been promoted to associate marketing manager. Tom Markakis is also joining the winery as the new assistant retail operations manager.
An industry veteran, Feeley has held roles as the senior director, communications at Delicato Family Vineyards, senior director, communications and events at Trinchero Family Estates and vice president, communications at Constellation Brands. She has agency experience at Hill & Knowlton and J. Walter Thompson, where she handled clients in the wine sector including Kenwood Vineyards, Vivino and Treasury Wine Estates. Feeley has also held key marketing roles at Cablevision/Madison Square Garden in New York and Aspen Magazine, The Cable Center and Event by Nora in Colorado.
Lauren Martins will fill the newly created role of associate marketing manager, where she will focus on enhancing the winery’s digital and social media efforts. She joined Silverado Vineyards in 2018 as part of the hospitality and wine education team. Martins has a decade of experience at New York advertising agencies Merkley + Partners and McCann Erickson working on well-known brands such as Nutella, Tic Tac, Nestle Waters Regional Spring Waters, Mobil 1 and 2K Games.
“Nora has extensive experience building awareness for storied brands in our business, well-positioning her to lead our marketing and communications efforts,” said Russ Weis, president, Silverado Vineyards. “Lauren’s expertise in digital marketing is a key step in responding to the changing wine consumer.”
As part of its increased focus on marketing and hospitality, Tom Markakis will join the winery on August 15 as assistant retail operations manager and wine educator from his role as assistant manager at Robert Mondavi Winery. Previously, he managed trade and education at St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery, Franciscan Estates, Mount Veeder Winery and Domaine Carneros. Markakis has been a Wine Instructor at The Culinary Institute of America since 2017 and will utilize his qualifications to provide wine education to trade and consumers at Silverado Vineyards.
“As a family-owned winery, Silverado Vineyards has remained estate-grown, produced and bottled for nearly forty years,” added Weis. “It is important to share the story of our wines and vineyards with our guests, consumers and the trade as the industry continues to evolve.”
About Silverado Vineyards
In 1981, Ron and Diane Miller established Silverado Vineyards to make wine from the historic vineyards of their estate. The winery borrows its name from the abandoned mining town at the top of Napa Valley. Silverado’s ranches were first planted to vines by Napa pioneers between 1865 and 1895. All of Silverado Vineyards’ wines are estate-grown, produced and bottled – sourced from the winery’s six vineyards across Napa Valley. https://silveradovineyards.com
